Moving
Movement A creature's movement allowance determines how quickly it can move. The rate at which a group of creatures - adventurers included - can move will usually be governed by the speed of the slowest individual. The following tables show how to translate the standard movement rate characteristic into distances and rates of movement. Distances given below are in yards. For tabletop purposes, remember one inch is the equivalent of two yards. Note also that the movement allowance corrosponds to the distance in tabletop inches per round at cautious rate. If you prefer to think in metric terms, you can treat the rates given below as metres, which is accurate enough for our purposes. Cautious Rate is the rate normally used for underground adventures or adventures set inside buildings. It is also the rate used when moving formed bodies of soldiers. In both cases, it envisages a certain amount of standing still, communication, hesitation, caution, and other delays. In the case of the military, the need to retain formation also prevents troops from moving very fast. Standard Rate is the rate used for individual adventurers moving out in the open, along a road, for instance. Characters may use this rate underground if they wish, but they will be forever tripping over broken paving, banging their heads on beams, and getting in each other's way. The GM can make a Risk test for characters attempting this, giving them W damage on each failed test. Run Rate is the rate used when characters want to run as quickly as they can. This should be regarded as the fastest a character can move. Running characters are very vulnerable to traps, encounters, and accidents, so this rate is reserved for emergency use. Characters using this rate underground should take a Risk test with a -10% modifier, taking W''' damage on fail results. Characters using this rate for more than a single round drop one yard of speed for each subsequent round as they become more and more breathless, until they are reduced to Standard Rate. Movement Allowance For Other Transport Movement allowances for various forms of transport are given below. The table shows Standard movement rates for yards per round, yards per turn, and rounded-off miles per hour equivalents. Cautious movement will be at half the Standard rate (if appropriate). In the case of water transport, moving with or against currents will alter the speed. Sailing vessels are also dependent on the wind. Add 25% to a vessel's speed if moving downstream or with a heavy current. Add a further 25% for sailing vessels sailing before the wind. Deduct the same amount for sailing upstream or against a current or for a sailing ship heading into the wind. Obstacles Creatures crossing obstacles will be slowed down. The following are examples of obstacles that adventurers will come across in time, but the gamesmaster should use the basic principle in any situation where movement should be restricted. *Opening and moving through a door or window *Hedges, fences, and low walls - under 2 metres high *Ditches and narrow crevasses *Getting on/off a vehicle or riding animal Crossing an obstacles loses a creature half its total move distance for one round. In addition, crossing an obstacle at standard or running pace is potentially dangerous. Make a Risk test for each character attempting this, with a -10% modifier for running characters. Difficult Ground Creatures crossing difficult ground will be slowed down. Examples of difficult ground are as follows: *Woods or dense foliage *Steep or treacherous slopes *Fords or shallow streams *Soft sands or thick dust *Brush, scrub, or clinging vegetation *Stairs, steps, and ladders *Building debris, wreckage, loose rocks, or boulders *Marsh, bog, thick mud, or sewage Creatures crossing difficult ground do so at half-pace. So, characters who move forty-eight yards normally would move only twenty-four yards. In addition, crossing difficult ground is potentially dangerous in the same way as crossing an obstacle. Characters attempting to move at more than Cautious pace must make a Risk test in the same way for every round during which they move at standard or running rate, taking '''W damage for every failed roll. Swimming Only characters with the Swim skill can swim and do so at ⅔ the Cautious movement rate given above. No tests are required for swimming in normal circumstances, but in hazardous situations (e.g., in rough water, hands tied, etc.) a Risk test is required, which is made with a +20% modifier. Armoured characters trying to swim must make a Risk test with a -10% penalty for every point of armour worn. The GM should judge the effects of any other encumbering items. Characters who cannot swim and swimmers who fail a Risk test will start to drown after a period equal to their T in rounds. After this period, drowning characters lose 1 W per round. Characters reduced to 0 W''' will have died. Parties and Groups It is usual to refer to a party of adventurers. A party is any number of adventurers who are engaged upon a mission together or who are travelling together towards some specific goal or for some specific purpose. There are no restrictions on how physically close together members of a party must be at any one time. Normally, a party travelling together forms a single group. Occasionally, a party might split into two or more groups. They might want to send scouts ahead, for example, or they might get split up or lost. When this happens, each group moves, performs actions, and does everything else on its own and each group should be dealt with seperately. In many situations, especially when dealing with combat and magic, it is important to know precisely who is in which group and where groups are in relation to one another. If in doubt, any separation of more than 4 yards constitutes a new group. Armour and Encumbrance Every item of armour and other equipment has an encumbrance value. This reflects the difficulty a character would have in carrying the item, based on a combination of its weight and size. Characters can carry only a certain amount before they are slowed down. This is calculated from the character's '''S x 100 (so, characters with a S''' of 4 can carry 400 encumbrance points of equipment before they start to suffer). For each 50 points, or parts thereof, which characters have over and above their maximum encumbrance, they lose one from their movement allowance. The encumbrance values of all the most common items are given with details of cost and availability in the Consumer Guide. Dwarfs are able to carry particularly heavy loads, far in excess of their normal '''S, due to their amazing physical constitution and squat, powerful bodies. Dwarfs can carry S''' x 200 points of encumbrance before they start to suffer restrictions. Horses may carry loads equal to their '''S x 300. Encumbrance Values: Encumbrance values of equipment are given in the Consumer Guide. Characters or creatures themselves have an encumbrance value equivalent to their S''' plus '''T, multiplied by 100. Jumping, Falling, Leaping, Climbing All actions of this kind are equivalent to a full round of activity and a character may do nothing else in the round. Many involve Standard Tests and the gamesmaster will need to refer to the relevant section. Jumping: A jump is a controlled vertical descent, landing more or less on the feet. Characters jump on purpose. Characters who are pushed or who leap into the air accidentally are judged to Fall not Jump. To determine whether a jump causes accidental damage, first decide the distance jumped in yards, rounding up to the nearest full yard. Now roll a D6 and deduct the score from the distance jumped. If the result is zero or less, no damage is sustained. If the score is positive, then the character loses that many W - irrespective of armour or T''' modifiers. Characters with Acrobatics skill should add +2 to the die roll. Characters taking '''W damage from a jump will drop anything held in their hands 50% of the time. Falling: A fall is an uncontrolled descent, landing pretty much by chance. Characters cannot fall on purpose, but only as a result of an accident or being pushed. Damage from falls is worked out exactly in the same way as damage from jumps, except that the distance involved is treated as double. Again, characters withe Acrobatics skill should add 2 to their die roll. A character taking W''' damage from a fall will drop anything held in their hands 50% of the time. '''Leaping: A leap is a horizontal jump, like a 'long jump'. It is used to move across roof tops, over chasms, and that sort of thing. Assuming there is sufficient space for a run up of at least two yards, characters may leap a distance equivalent to twice their M characteristic, minus D6 yards (minimum one yard). The following shows how this affects creatures with different M''' scores: Where there is insufficient space for a run up, characters may leap twice their '''M characteristic minus 2D6 yards (minimum one yard). In all instances, characters with Acrobatics skill should add 2 yards to the distance of any Leap. A character failing to make sufficient distance to reach the other side will fall. Climb: Characters can climb most non-sheer surfaces as half M''' rate, provided they do nothing else that round. Climbing always involves danger and a Risk test should be taken to see if the character slips and sustains injury. If the test is failed, the character Falls. Sheer surfaces can only be climbed using ropes, grapples, and so on or by characters with Scale Sheer Surface skill. The GM must decide whether a surface is sheer; in published scenarios, you will be told if this is the case. Ropes and Ladders Ropes and non-fixed ladders, rope-ladders, and improvised knotted-blanket ropes can be climbed and carefully descended at half normal '''M rate. Two free hands will be needed at all times. Fixed ladders are climbed at the same rate, but only one hand will be necessary. A Risk test should be taken as for other forms of climbing. Ropes can also be descended by abseiling at twenty yards per round. In such cases, take an additional Risk test for every full ten yards of distance. Flying Creatures Flying creatures present something of a problem to the gamesmaster in that their movement is, by necessity, three-dimensional. However, by sticking to the guidelines below, you should be able to cope fairly easily and without slowing down the game to the detriment of play. Flying creatures are divided into three different types: Swoopers are strong flyers who can climb and dive easily. Hoverers are relatively weak flyers, but are capable of quite slow flight. Landers are poor flyers and are clumsy and slow in the air. The Movement of Flying Creatures: Creatures capable of flight can take off or land during the round - but may then do nothing else. Whilst flying, they can enter combat, use missiles, and employ magic just as they would whilst on the ground. Vertical Movement: The height of a creature above the ground is reckoned in increments of ten yards. The vertical distance a creature can climb or dive during its round (ten seconds) will depend upon its basic type. Swoopers can climb or dive by up to twenty yards during the round. Hoverers can dive up to twenty yards or climb up to ten yards per round. Landers can climb or dive by up to ten yards during the round. Creatures can combine climbing and diving during the round if they wish. For example, a swooper can dive ten yards and then climb ten yards (total twenty yards vertical movement)). It will help if a record of vertical distance is kept. Horizontal Movement: Unlike a ground-moving creature, which can stand still, a flying creature must move, otherwise it would simply drop out of the sky! The chart below gives the horizontal movement for flying creatures in yards per round. There are two numbers for each entry. The first is the minimum speed the creature must move. The second is the maximum speed the creature is permitted to move. The speed a creature is allowed to move horizontally depends whether the creature is diving, climbing, or maintaining level flight. Manoeuvre: Airborne creatures can only turn by wheeling. The radius of a wheel is always equal to half the total horizontal move distance in yards. Category:Rules